Monday’s statement regarding Gianfranco Zola has stirred the pot ahead of Blues` game at Rotherham United. Predictably, backing a manager who has a 9% win ratio from 22 games went down like Katie Price at a hen party.
Yet reading between the lines, it wasn`t as clear cut as we first thought. Blues are not saying that they will not sack Zola, they just reiterated the point that the Daily Mail`s story linking Ivan Vukomanović, Slovan Bratislava`s manager, to the manager`s job at St. Andrews was complete fiction, as Daily Mail stories usually are.
And while we reported on this very website that Zola is set to be backed into next season, that also was not whiter than white.
It`d be increasingly difficult for Trillion Trophy Asia to come out in support of the Italian should Blues lose at already-relegated Rotherham United today. A team that has conceded in excess of 90 goals – and have only four wins to show from their pitiful season – makes the game at the New York Stadium a must win. In fact, if Derby was a must win, Rotherham is a must must win.
The fact that Rotherham have had almost as many managers as they have wins this season should raise the expectations of the travelling Bluenose contingent. The sell-out away end will not care one jot for the amount of possession or shots on target Blues have – without a win, they are about as useful as pair of sunglasses on a bloke with one ear. Only the result matters.
While expectations will be for Blues to turn the hosts over, the visiting fans will be well aware that football isn`t always that simple. And this is Birmingham City, let`s not forget.
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